


Thirty (Non-Consecutive) Day Challenge

by crumbcake



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Adam is mentioned, Autistic Keith (Voltron), Domestic Fluff, Keith and Lance as children, M/M, Old Age, Other, Team Voltron Family
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-28
Updated: 2018-07-28
Packaged: 2019-06-17 21:35:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,349
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15470589
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crumbcake/pseuds/crumbcake
Summary: Thirty unrelated Klance stories for a thirty day word challenge. The additional tags apply only for certain chapters. Chapters range from drabbles to short stories. I will try to post these in 5 chapter increments!





	1. Day 1: A Selfie Together

**Author's Note:**

> Ch 1 warning: Klance as an old couple. Sadness.

What hurts the most nowadays are the long spells of silence from his husband of 58 years. Every single day that passes, Keith loses a tiny bit more of Lance. The goofiness makes fewer appearances and the broad grins are softer and uncertain now, often replaced by a small frown. This is not something he can save Lance from. 

Lance is right in front of him yet Keith grieves for the husband he has lost because even the older memories are beyond Lance now. But Keith has discovered that music allows the Red Paladin he remembers to return for a short visit. He sits next to Lance on their old couch and leans in so he can feel his warmth while he swipes through his phone for Lance’s favorite song. He tries not to frown when Lance stiffens and knots his hands together and doesn’t say anything. 

Keith is sure that Lance has no idea who he is but is trying to play it cool as he tries to puzzle it out. Keith swallows and hits play and looks over at Lance as the music blares, almost afraid of what he will see. However, the music plays on as the stiff lines around Lance’s eyes seem to fade just a bit and his mouth curves into a smile. His blue eyes also sharpen and he grins impishly at Keith. 

And just like that for a brief moment he is who he used to be.

“Playing my song, Mullet?”

Keith smirks back at him as his heart speeds up. What a beautiful old man. Love of his life. “Yup.”

He pulls Lance’s arm around his shoulder and leans in until their heads gently press together. Keith takes a deep grounding breath before he selects camera mode for his phone and holds it out in front of them for a selfie. His eyes linger on Lance’s fond smile as he snaps the picture.


	2. Day 2: Sharing a Milkshake

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Traumatic nightmare descriptions. Klance. Domestic Fluff. Future fic, Tiny tiny S7 spoiler as in someone is mentioned.

The dream is so vivid that it’s disorientating. Keith fights in vain to save both Lance and Shiro as they each hang precariously off the edge of a cliff with Keith’s faltering grip the only thing between them and oblivion. They have come to the infuriating and idiotic conclusion that Keith must let go of one them to save the other and so have refused to help in their own rescue; each hanging limply off Keith’s hand willing to take the fall so the other may live.

 

Keith grinds his teeth as he pulls with all his might even as Lance and Shiro smile sadly at him as their hands slip through Keith’s fingers. It can’t end like this, he will NOT let go. They cannot do this to him, he needs them both, but its his very refusal that dooms them. He watches, horrified, as their sudden plummeting turns into them racing towards him. The scene moves abruptly from a cliff to the fence line of a Spaniard bull run. 

 

The absurd change doesn’t register. Just as Keith realizes that Shiro and Lance are on the wrong side of the fence, he sees an enormous furious bull thundering towards them, head low, great heaving snorts deafening as it closes the distance in one breathless instant. The massive horns gleam in the sunlight and there’s terrible shrill screaming as each man is gouged and lifted in the air via their impalement. The horns protrude obscenely from their chests as Keith witnesses their brief seconds of struggle before they go limp and their eyes turn glassy. 

 

Keith screams as their bodies rock and rattle like lifeless dolls with the bull’s angry bucks. 

 

He continues to scream as he shoots up in bed, his skin abuzz with ice-cold creepy crawlies and hot sweat. Keith scrambles back and slams against the headboard as he takes big gulps of air and looks around for the bodies. It’s too dark save for the bit of light coming from their alarm clock and electronics. 

 

Their alarm clock. And he’s on a bed. Right.

 

Keith groans in misery and curls in on himself, wrapping his arms around his bent knees.

 

Sixth day in a row. Same nightmare.

 

He notices a hand rubbing his thigh soothingly and takes the hand in his own. Keith looks over and just makes out Lance curled on his side, the white of his eyes slightly shining in the dim light.

 

“Hey.”

 

Keith sighs heavily and squeezes his hand in response, ignoring the damp stickiness.

 

It’s the peak of summer in Cuba and it’s sweltering in their pocket-sized apartment. The metal fan they got going provides no relief from the muggy air, merely circulating what feels like hot steam from one damp spot to another.  Keith feels sweat running down his forehead and more sweat trailing down his back and chest. It’s so gross and unbearable. 

 

It’s nothing like the dry heat of the desert which isn’t even a thing at sundown as it cools down dramatically overnight. Although, their living arrangements are temporary and Keith IS getting used to Cuba’s summer. The problem is that he keeps waking up with the impression of loved ones’ vacant looks as they hang impaled on the bull’s horn and it’s somehow made so much worse by the sticky heat weighing him down. He cycles from torture to torture.

 

But he’ll get over it. Keith squares his shoulders and presses his lips together grimly. 

 

_ Don’t worry. Go back to sleep. _ Is on the tip of his tongue because Keith is determined to at least let Lance have a good night’s rest. He’ll have to work on letting go of his hand but he thinks he can manage it.

 

Instead, he feels Lance trap his fingers between his own and scoot off the bed. Keith lets himself be pulled and gets to his feet as Lance hits the light switch. Their place is so small that the whole space is lit up by the poor light. He’s being dragged to the tiny counter bar that separates the bedroom/living room area from the kitchen. He’s led to the wooden bar stool where he takes a seat and tries not to be distraught when Lance’s fingers slip away.

 

Lance is in a pair of boxers same as Keith so he can see all of his old scars along his back and calves which are shining from sweat as Lance pulls open the french doors of the balcony that their apartment has instead of shuttered windows. It does nothing for the heat and it’s pitch black outside but Lance always opens the balcony doors when he plans to work in the kitchen. 

 

Keith watches tiredly as Lance rummages through their cabinets and pulls out a metal bowl, an old milkshake mixer, vanilla extract, several types of sugar, and a wide mouthed pint and half sized mason jar. The jar he sets in front of Keith.

 

While Lance turns to the fridge, Keith undoes his sloppy hairbun and refastens his hair, uncaring of what it looks like; just needing it to never touch his neck again. He looks on in surprise as Lance pulls out a few ingredients: mint leaves, a jar of chocolate syrup one Marco had made and given them, a container of cherries, a bag of chocolate chips, a lemon and butter. Oddly enough he sticks the bowl in the fridge.

 

“What are you doing?” Keith asks, voice raspy from lack of talking.

 

Lance shrugs and stifles a yawn as he smiles, “A thing.”  

 

He adds butter to a small skillet that he places on the lit burner of the stove and pulls out toothpicks from a drawer, setting them on the kitchen bar. He places the cherries between them and leans on the counter by his elbows as he casually picks up a toothpick and a cherry by the stem.

 

He glances up at Keith. “You know how to pit a cherry?”

 

Keith leans in too and rests his chin on one hand as he shakes his head ‘no’.

 

“You pull the stem…” He pulls off the stem of a few cherries and then holds one up as he explains, “and then use a toothpick or whatever and stick it in there until you hit the pit…” which he does and starts to dig, “and then you kind of twist until you pop it out through the stem hole.”

Keith watches him do it one more time then takes a handful of cherries of his own and gives it a try. 

 

The first two are a mushed liquefied mess. Lance snickers as Keith glares at the cherry in hand with a new sense of intense determination as he tries to perfect his new pitting skill. They pit a few more cherries (Lance 12 Keith 3) then Lance takes the container away much to Keith’s disappointment and tosses sugar in the skillet and stirs.

 

It’s comforting to watch him cook; he’s relaxed and safely away from any bulls. Keith watches idly as he tosses in the cherries and mixes.

 

“What are you making?”

 

“A thing.” He says again.

 

He stirs periodically then cuts the lemon in half and squeezes the juice over the cherries on the stovetop.

 

“Aren’t you hot?” Keith asks.

 

The message ‘ _ I’m always hot.’  _ is clear in the saucy grin he sends Keith who shakes his head in amusement.

Lance turns off the heat then returns to the fridge and pulls out a bottle of milk and a tub of mint chocolate chip ice cream. They share a look as he scoops ice cream into the mixer and pours in milk.

 

A half smile graces Keith’s lips as he wipes sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand. 

 

Lance’s knowing look sparks a giddy fluttering in his stomach that threatens to fill him up to bursting. It’s like he’s a teenager again and getting exactly the attention he wants from his first crush. And just because it’s five in the morning in Cuba and his boyfriend is fixing him his favorite milkshake, it doesn’t mean that Keith should start kicking his legs on the barstool like some child.

 

Lance brings out rare, unexplored parts of Keith. 

 

Keith resists and lets his head slip some from resting on his hand so that his palm partly covers his mouth as he watches the mixer whirl to life. The noise is a bit startling in the early morning quiet but not unwelcome. Condensation beads off the metal cup while it mixes the milk and ice cream together and Keith’s gaze wanders back to Lance. They watch each other and judging from how big Lance’s grin is, Keith is very sure that his palm is doing a terrible job at hiding his joy.

 

He distracts himself by poking at the mason jar and smiling stupidly at it instead.

 

Next, Lance switches off the mixer and pulls whipping cream out from the fridge as well as the cooled bowl. He takes out the whisks he keeps in the fridge, pours the cream into the bowl and adds vanilla and powdered sugar.  

 

Keith keeps smiling as he watches him hand mix the cream.

 

“I’ll cook dinner.” He volunteers.

 

“‘kay.” Lance replies. It takes a little elbow grease to make whipped cream. He keeps mixing for a while so Keith takes the opportunity to ogle him. He likes how he is holding the bowl against his chest and working away. Lance is completely at ease; as comfortable in the kitchen as he is wielding a sniper rifle.

 

Matt’s long ago teasing words to Adam spring to mind, unbidden - 

 

_ Get a man that can do both. _

 

Keith snorts to himself and taps his fingers on the counter.

 

The cream is thick and luxurious looking by the time Lance stops.  Lance pours the mint-green milkshake into the mason jar. He adds the thick chocolate syrup on top then the sauteed cherries over the syrup. The whipped cream is next and is spooned in big plopping heaps over top of the jar. Lance sprinkles chocolate chips over the whole decadent concoction and adds a sprig of mint as a garnish.

 

“For you, babe.”

 

Lance slides the frosty dessert right under Keith’s nose. He can feel the cold condensation off the frosty milkshake and can smell the rich chocolate syrup that has now dribbled down the inner sides of the jar. 

 

Keith slides off the stool and reaches over the counter to pull two paper straws from the drawer.  The dessert is so fluffy that Keith has to lightly tap the straws before they fully sink in. He pushes the milkshake so it is centered between them and leans forward, crossing his arms on the counter.

 

“Drink it with me?”

 

He knows Lance did it for him but also knows that Lance would still enjoy the cold against the heat even if he only likes mint okay.

 

“You sure?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

Lance smiles, adjusts the headband he stuck in his hair to keep his bangs out of his face and crosses his arms over the counter as well. 

 

They both lean in. Dawn is starting to break.

 

The nightmare is long forgotten as Keith closes his eyes and takes a long pull from the straw. The home-made milkshake is rich and thick. The mint flavor ice cold, crisp and refreshing as it goes down.

It’s definitely the best, most decadent milkshake he has ever had in his life.

 

It’s sooooo good.

 

It’s sooo sooooooo good.

 

He hears Lance laugh. Ah, he said that last part out loud.

 

Keith looks up at Lance and captures his chilly grinning lips in his own.


	3. Day 3: Grumpy Morning Heads

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Humor, Klance, cranky domestic bliss lol

It was a balmy ten thousand degrees outside and about ten million inside the ninth circle of hell inferno that he and Lance called home with no air conditioning. Keith was naked, star-fished on their bed and soaking in his own pool of sweat as he fantasized about a planet sized asteroid hurtling down towards earth to free him from his misery. Wasn’t the whole purpose of sweating for cooling down? Well it wasn’t working very well. Or at all. 

 

Lance, the heathen, rolled over in his sleep so his sticky face pressed into Keith’s also sticky face. Keith jerked away in disgust, his cheek unsticking from Lance’s in the worst way possible. He moved away just enough for a great big whiff of Lance’s disgusting exhale of stale breath. His biological warfare was as inconsiderate as it was inhumane.

 

While Keith mentally groused at the awful situation inflicted on him, Lance snorted himself awake.

 

“Ughhhdsflkjsdff” He said and yanked the highly offensive bed sheet that partly covered his thigh off the bed.

 

Their eyes met. The bed was NOT big enough for two fully grown sweaty men who never wanted to touch anything ever again.

 

Lance frowned deeply, the bastard.

 

“What are you doing.” He rasped. What he clearly meant was ‘What  _ the fuck _ are you doing.’ Keith could see it in his eyes but had no concrete evidence to call him out.

 

“Just thinking about how much I love you.” Keith replied. One real good kick right at the chest could knock away that humid rank breath and bonus get him off the bed.

 

Lance gave him his most unfriendliest stare. “Yeah me too.”

 

_ Dick _ .


	4. Day 4: Picnicking

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Exploration of a moment via the 5 traditionally recognized senses. Warning: Klance, Voltron family, future fic, S7 Spoiler content

**_Smell_ **

 

The deeply rich earthy smell of the nature park adds to the tranquility of the moment. Hunk minds the grill, the smoky scent of savory sweet chicken over smoldering charcoal embers is causing several mouths to water hungrily. 

  
  


**_Sound_ **

 

Lance listens to the ebb and flow of conversation among his inner circle of friends. Matt’s dry and pleasant voice carries over the music turned low. The cough from Adam is followed by a burst of laughter and a brief mingling of cherished voices as they each react to Matt’s story all at once. 

 

Coran’s sudden humming fades as he gets up and walks away to join Krolia who appears to be toeing at something down by the riverbank. Limbs shift causing the picnic table to creak with the change of pressure. Romelle plays with a deck of cards, the clean  _ flick flick _ noise satisfying to her as she places the Jacks on the table. 

 

Metal scrapes plastic when Keith unscrews a soda bottle cap; he then waits for the bright fizzling to settle before he takes a swig. When he does, Lance can hear the gulping sounds up close since he sits next to him but his own loud crunching drowns it out.  

 

The tree limbs and leaves rustle with the balmy breeze and the chirps of birds are sometimes jarring to Keith. Underneath it all is the hushed thrumming of the nearby river.

 

**_Taste_ **

 

The baby carrots tastes like water along with a mild flavor of soft bitter sweetness. Each crisp crunch of the vegetable adds to the fibrous build up in the back of Lance’s throat as he tears up a bag of carrots.

 

Adam gets so close to Shiro’s ear that he tastes a bit of salt as he whispers something rude about Matt.

  
  


**_Touch_ **

 

Grainy dirt kicked up from walking down to the picnic area settle uncomfortably over Lance’s toes. Next time he’ll wear sneakers instead of open sandals. His hand rests on Keith’s underneath the picnic table, their fingers are intertwined casually over Keith’s knee. The other hand, Lance accidentally dips into the iced water bowl instead of the bag of carrots nestled within. Allura asks him a question and he twitches and wiggles the hand holding Keith’s in unconscious gestures as he talks.

 

Shiro leans into Adam, comforted by his solid presence. 

 

The weather is comfortable especially underneath the shade of trees.

  
  


**_Sight_ **

 

Keith is unfairly characterized as overly sober and unfriendly by people that know him casually or don’t know him at all. They would be surprised by his open expression and faint smile as he participates in the lively insults being lobbed at Matt. His smile is a touch fonder when Lance narrows his eyes and launches into a ludicrous one-upmanship with Matt.

 

Shiro’s look is as always world-weary and gentle but he snorts in amusement and chuckles when Adam who looks stoic and severe whispers in his ear. 

 

Pidge is sitting closest to the grill, her attention split between relishing the insults aimed at Matt and her own snarking at Hunk over his latest coding techniques. Hunk is entirely unruffled as he retorts smoothly with his usual calm ease and endless humor. 

 

Allura, on Lance’s other side, is laughing happily at the antics. She beams at Keith and Lance when her gaze slides over to them, happy to see them together. 

 

Matt defends his reputation while he casually reaches over and taps Romelle on her other shoulder so she turns around and sees no one. When he does it again, she swings his way and throws a carrot at him, sly smile on her lips as he plays innocent.

 

Krolia, a beer in hand and eyebrows raised high, watches Coran flatten himself on the ground so he could talk to a turtle eye to eye. She casually pours some of her beer over his head.

 

The Voltron family, done saving the world, picnics together in peace.


	5. Day 5: Bake Together

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Texas worries about his son. Warnings: Pre-Voltron fic, Texas (Keith's dad), young child Keith & Lance, Autistic Keith and an OC to move things along.

The Garrison ran well organized Take Your Child to Work Day events for their workers. The younger kids would spend the morning doing Garrison themed group activities with volunteers then reunite with their guardians for a sponsored outdoor lunch and remain with them for the rest of the day. Texas’ fire company was always hired to swing by with their engine as a nice surprise and were welcome to drop off their own kids early so they can take part in the planned activities (and hopefully start dreaming about the Garrison and space).

 

Texas spent a few days convincing himself that it would be good for Keith to experience the event and be around other kids.  The day of the event, he got his son ready and dropped him off at the Garrison before he could change his mind. It wasn’t easy to watch his little boy get escorted to a kid event that wasn’t geared specifically for his needs.

 

Texas was more than happy for his company to arrive earlier than expected - right in the middle of the last activity before lunch. The kids were ‘baking’ pizza bites in one of the kitchens, unaware of the fire engine hidden in one of the hangers. Texas excused himself from the gang and scrambled to get in regular clothes and go see for himself how Keith was doing.

 

He was led by a main office employee to a side cafeteria. When he walked in, he noticed how there was a good crowd of kids gathered around tables and volunteers circling or chatting with them as they created tiny pizzas for the lunch buffet.  The kids had already formed little friend groups; crowding together, yelling and giggling among themselves as they added pizza toppings to the balls of dough they had rolled out. He hoped to find his son among them but his search was in vain. He tried not to feel disappointed as he spotted Keith apart from all the other kids.

 

Keith had picked up a container with balls of dough from the supply table and was hunched over a table that was two tables away from everyone else, considering his options carefully. A young woman was with him, squatting down to his height and gesturing at the pepperoni toppings (the only one he had selected apart from tomato sauce) as she spoke quietly to him.

 

Texas frowned, feeling the usual fears and heartache as he approached them. The woman noticed him as he got close and stood up, smiling patiently. Everyone always seemed to have that same exact smile when they were dealing with his son. He hated it even as he smiled back and spoke in his usual gregarious way, “Hi there!”

 

“Hi.” She grinned. “I’m Ana. Is this one yours?”

 

“Afraid so!” He reached out for a handshake which she took cheerfully as he introduced himself, “People call me Texas. A pleasure to meet you.”

 

“Pleasure’s mine. Nice to meet you too.”

 

As expected, Keith didn’t seem to notice or care about Texas’ presence; he was focused on precisely spacing the mini-pepperonis on top of his second pizza. His first one looked carefully manipulated into a circle and had the pepperonis perfectly aligned on top of tomato sauce with no cheese in sight as he hated cheese on his pizzas. He frowned and reached for the table when Texas interrupted him with a brief hug from behind.  

 

“Keith giving you any trouble?”

 

“Nope. Keith’s a sweet kid.” She said simply and didn’t have more to say on the matter. Texas paid more attention to her now. She had pretty blue eyes and faint freckles dotting her brown skin. He felt himself relaxing and gave her a more genuine smile as he took a seat by his son.

 

“Good. So do you work here?”

 

“Yup, though today I’m a pizza lunch lady”

 

Texas laughed easily. “What do you do when you’re not a lunch lady?”

 

“All sorts of data analyses. I’m a biostatistician.” She said as she took a seat herself, turning to the side so she can keep an eye on the other kids.

 

“Oh fancy.” Texas smirked teasingly.

 

“Eh.” She shrugged as she smiled breezily at him. The way she carried herself and seemed entirely relaxed was very nice. Texas had a sense that she was carefree in nature.

 

He nodded towards the kids, “Any of them yours?”

 

Ana pointed at the closest table where five boys were a buzz of energy, chatting away about their favorite superheroes as they created their pizzas.

 

“See the little boy in the ‘Roarsome’ dinosaur shirt? That’s Lance. He’s mine, kind of.”

 

Lance was gesturing with a mini rolling pin as he chatted with the boy next to him. He was obviously fitting in just fine and perfectly comfortable within the group.

 

“Kind of?” Texas asked, amused.

 

Ana laughed as she stretched her legs out. “Yeah, kind of. He’s my cousin. I got family from Cuba visiting. He likes space stuff so figured I’d bring him.” She shrugged again.

 

“That’s real nice of you.” He liked this Ana a lot.

 

“I love that kid. He’s a total sweetheart.” She called out to Lance as Texas pulled Keith in again.

 

“Hey Lance.” Ana said.

 

He looked up right away as he asked curiously. “What?”

 

His little boy voice was adorable. Kids that age were cute.

 

“Come here a sec, I want you to meet someone.”

 

Lance glanced at Texas and then seemed to freeze when his gaze fell on Keith who met his eyes very briefly before looking away. He stopped trying to squirm away from Texas and instead grabbed onto his arm in concern. Texas felt his son’s little 6 year old body tighten in discomfort.

 

“Okay!”

 

Lance ran over and laughed happily as Ana surprise grabbed him and hugged him. She kept an arm around him as she gestured at Texas and Keith.

 

“Lance say hi to Keith and his dad, Texas.”

 

“Hi!” He said, keenly interested in Keith in the way that kids are interested in other kids.

 

“It is nice to meet you Lance.” Texas winked at Lance as he got close to Keith’s ear. “Lance would like to meet you. Will you say hi to Lance, Keith?”

 

“Hi to Lance, Keith.” His son responded, mimicking his tone and looking steadfastly at the ground.

 

“Good job!” He cheered while internally he chastised himself because shoot he did it again. The therapist told him not to pose the question that way when working on greetings. Lance took it as a joke and giggled as Ana squeezed him again and said, “Oh my god Lance I want to keep you. You guys having fun??”

 

He nodded while eyeing Keith like a moth to a flame. “Yeah, we were on a spaceship!”

 

“Really? Wow! What planet did you visit? Were you scared?”

 

Much to Texas amusement, Lance turned back to look at Ana incredulously, “Nooooo,” He said, obviously tickled. “We weren’t flying on another planet - we don’t have any space suits?! We stayed right here.” It was said in a laughing ‘duh wasn’t it obvious’ tone.

 

Ana and Texas shared an amused look as she replied, “Awww, that’s too bad! Okay so let’s say you did have spacesuits. What planet would you want to visit?”

 

“Ummmm.. “ Texas felt Keith perk up, he clasped his hands together interlocking his fingers then reversed finger positions and re-clasped as Lance came up with, “Mars!”

 

Keith’s violet eyes remained steadfast on Texas’ knee as he recited, “Mars, the red planet, is the fourth planet from the sun. It has two moons Phobos and Deimos. Mars’ air is 100 times thinner than the Earth.”

 

Lance looked at Keith, then glanced at Texas and then back at Keith consideringly. He was so different; naturally interested in faces and body language while Texas had to teach Keith those skills. Texas held his breath, feeling apprehension on behalf of his son. He wanted him to be liked by a peer and tried hard not to interfere on his behalf.

 

“I know why it’s red! Do you know?” Lance said at last.

 

Even though Keith was obsessed with outer space, no answer was forthcoming. Instead Keith gave him a sideling look from the corner of his eye and turned his attention back on the pizza he left on the table.  

 

Oh his son knew the answer, he just didn’t get the question.

 

Texas smiled kindly at Lance’s puzzled look and winked at him as he explained, “Sometimes Keith needs a little help understanding.”

 

Lance’s eyes swivelled back to Keith as Texas asked, “Keith, Lance would like to know why Mars is red!  Can you tell Lance why Mars is red?”

 

“So, Mars is red because it has a layer of rusty dust covering its entire surface!” He answered, reciting verbatim the Children’s Museum article that Texas reads to him over and over again.

 

Lance looked like he was terribly impressed, “Yeah rust!”  

 

He joined him at the table entirely unconcerned about Keith’s awkward behavior.

 

“Wow! How did you make it so perfect?” He asked, meaning the flawless pattern of pepperoni on the pizza Keith had completed. “Can I help?”

 

It was more of a rhetorical question as Lance was already reaching over and pulling a ball of dough and grabbing the rolling pin, casually inviting himself to Keith’s worktable.

 

“I’m gonna be an offworld pilot.” He said matter-of-factly. “I’m gonna live here with Ana, my brothers and sisters stay in Cuba and I’m gonna fly aallll over the universe.”

 

Texas pushed his chair back, giving Keith and Lance a little more space, wanting to observe them. He grinned at Ana’s snort of laughter as she was partly paying attention to them and partly on the rest of the kids, “Aren’t you gonna miss Luisito and Vero a whole lot? What about your mom?” She asked.

 

“No, they can stay in Cuba. Mami can visit.“ Lance continued smoothly as Ana chortled beside him. He asked Keith, “What do you wanna be when you grow up?”

 

“I’m gonna be an offworld pilot.” Keith replied in a soft echo of Lance’s earlier comment. He was eyeing him rolling out the dough but seemed to decide it didn’t bother him and began to rearrange the pepperonis he already had on his pizza.

 

“You too?” gasped Lance in surprise then considered it, “We can be co-pilots. We can save people on Mars.”

 

“Why would they need saving?” Asked Ana.

 

“Cause... of the pepperonis! It rains pepperoni pizzas on Mars! They have too much pizza! Too much pizza!.”  he said in barely contained glee then helpfully advised Keith, “You forgot cheese.” then continued with his story, “We’ll have to fly real fast to save them. Whooosh!!”

 

Keith seemed to be thinking through Lance’s whirlwind comment. He picked up a pepperoni, raised his arm up and let the pepperoni go.

 

“Whoosh”  he said to himself then poked the topping into place.

 

‘WHOOSH.’ Lance added, giggling and quickly launching into a game of pretend, “Ahhhh we’re gonna go so fast’ He held the rolling pin like an aircraft joystick, his child voice pitched even higher as he yelped, ”We need to save them! We gotta go fasterrrr.” And to Texas an Ann’s amusement, he rocked his body like he was dodging obstacles.

 

Keith was staring at Lance, wide-eyed, immersed in his getting carried away.

 

“Go fasterrrr.” He mimicked quietly and Texas’ heart leapt into his throat as he bounced on his toes once and smiled down shyly at his pizza.

 

“We gotta go faster!” Lance threw himself in it like his life was on the line and whisper yelled in pretend panic, “Ahhhhh”.

 

“Lance, tranquilizate niño.”  Ana warned him in Spanish to settle down.

 

He bent over the table, leaning on his elbows and rolling the dough again as he leaned into Keith and stage whispered, “Ahhhhhh!”

 

Texas could feel his heart fluttering because Keith was bouncing on his toes again and his round little face was still focused on the pizza but he had a big smile as he joined in on the pretend yelling with Lance.  They exchanged whispered ‘ahhhhs’ between giggles.

 

Texas whipped out his phone and filmed the pair. This was a novel moment. Keith wasn’t shrugging away from Lance’s physical contact which was a bit of a small miracle as he was particular to touch.

 

He was almost done with his pizza and Texas bit his lip and forced himself just to observe because he could see that Keith needed three more pepperonis to finish his pattern and there were none left on the table. He wanted him to experience these stressor situations and help him learn how to deal with them.

 

Keith realized the situation himself when he dipped his fingers in one of the baggies and came up with nothing.  He frowned in dismay and made a quiet noise of distress as he looked around for another bag of mini pepperonis.

 

He double checked the two snack bags on the table and took an abrupt step back. “You can put any topping you want! Make sure you share with your friends!.” He said worriedly as he scoured the table again for more of the topping. Finding none, he clasped his hands together and ran back to the supply table as Lance watched him.

 

Ana moved as if to intervene but Texas shook his head and said, “Please.”

 

Keith ran back, re-clasping his hands in agitation and buried himself in Texas’ arms who hugged him tightly as the compression would be comforting for him. It helped as his labored puffs of breath slowed down.

 

“You can put any topping you want! Make sure you share with your friends!” Keith whined.

 

While Texas tried to come up with a way to help his son communicate, he noticed Lance looking pensively at Keith. His gaze swept over the pizza and the empty bags, easily spotting the problem.

 

He ran off to the group of boys he had left and picked up his own bag of pepperonis from the table and ran back.

 

“Here!” He waved the bag at Keith and pulled a pepperoni out as Keith watched him.

 

Lance added the slice to Keith’s pizza, “It’s okay. See?”

 

Keith was trying hard to regulate his breathing. He scrubbed at his face as he took the offered baggie and returned to Lance’s side without Texas prompting him.

 

Keith added the remaining pepperoni as he sniffed then took Lance’s rolled out dough and began working on it. They worked well together. Like two little peas in a pod.

 

“Okay everyone.” One of the volunteers running the program clapped his hands to get the kids’ attention. “Time to wrap up! Please leave your pizzas on the table and come gather around!”  

 

Lance immediately dropped everything he was doing, excited to see what was next.

 

“C’mon, let’s go!”

 

He grabbed Keith’s hand and tugged as he ran so Keith ran too until they stopped in front of the volunteer. Texas watched his son look down at their clasped hands and stay put. Keith glanced at Lance’s friends gathering around him and pressed in close to Lance. Texas held his breath, expecting to see him walk away - Keith always edged out of crowds, clasping his hands tightly and muttering to himself - but this time it didn’t happen.

 

He was in the middle of a crowd of kids being kids.

 

Texas couldn’t believe it. His heart was about to burst. “Ana you have no idea how big this is.”

 

“How big is what?”

 

Texas shook his head, big smile brimming on his lips.

 

“How old is Lance?” He asked.

 

“Mm.. he’s five I think.”

 

“Year younger than Keith.” And bigger. Keith was small for his age. Texas tore his eyes away from the children and looked at Ana.“When is Lance leaving again?” Maybe he could arrange a playdate or some sort of long term contact.

 

“He’s here for another week.” Ana eyed him curiously, crooked smile on her face. “You’re a good dad.” She decided.

 

Texas laughed self-deprecating and looked back over at the kids, “Well I try. It’s not easy.”

 

“Hmm. You never told me what you do, Texas. I haven’t seen you around.”

 

“I’m with the fire engine.”

 

She looked delighted as she asked, “You’re a firefighter?”

 

“At your service, ma’am.” He smiled charmingly which made her chuckle.

 

She hesitated and then asked, ”Would you like to come over for dinner with your son and wife?”

 

So she must’ve noticed the ring. Texas twisted the wedding ring he still wore. “It’s just Keith and I. And I wouldn’t want to impose...” Actually, he badly wanted to impose for his son’s sake.

 

“Trust me two extra plates is nothing for us. In fact, my aunt was freaking out over how people DON’T just pop by for dinner here.”

 

Texas watched in amusement as Ana swept her hair over her shoulder, showing off the luxurious shine of her locks and smiling flirtatiously at him. “I gotta ask - what exactly is your relationship status?”

 

He chuckled and shook his head as he looked at his ring pensively. This lovely young woman was obviously kindhearted, confident, and she was pretty.

 

“My wife is far away. Ah. It’s...complicated.” He shook his head and smiled apologetically at Ana, “I’m not in the market.”

 

Maybe he should be some day. It’s been over six years.

 

“Come anyway.” Ana said kindly, “Lance would enjoy playing with a friend of his own that’s not his brothers and sisters.”

 

Texas hesitated again but he had been honest to Ana and she knew the deal so he didn’t see the harm. “I would love to, thank you.”

 

She beamed at him. Together they watched as the volunteer attempted to corral the rowdy group of kids.

 

Children tended to innately understand that Keith was different and they treated him well for the most part but Keith rarely connected with any of them and mostly shied away. And lately his usually gentle son has had some angry outbursts out of sheer frustration. But here he was with a little boy he just met him; giggling and holding hands and voluntarily standing among his peers.

 

Texas caught a glimpse of the top of their heads which were very close together. Texas shook his head, still smiling widely. Keith made a friend today.

 

He hoped he could get Keith more time with Lance. He felt a pang as he worried about how difficult things might become for Keith one day but he was going to do his best to prepare him.

 

Texas could only hope that there would always be a Lance for his Keith.

 

Anyway, it looked like they were heading out to another area. Texas stood up and smiled at Ana as he gestured at the group, “Shall we?”

 

She smiled and hopped up. “We shall!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you enjoyed, please consider tipping me with a comment! I would love to know what chapter you enjoyed in particular (if you like any of them at all :D :D)


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